Appearance: Tolkien in Vermont Conference

I got word last week: UVM’s Tolkien in Vermont conference has accepted my proposal for a presentation for its upcoming, 16th annual conference, Tolkien and Horror. The conference is a neat, two-day event that the university’s English department hosts. In line with this year’s topic, I’ll be talking about the impact of Tolkien’s experiences during the First World war had on him, and his fiction.

Tolkien, of course, participated in the conflict, and it left him profoundly shaken. I’ve presented at this a couple of times already — in 2014 and 2015, mainly about Tolkien’s impact on fantasy. I also spoke at Norwich University’s Sullivan Library back in 2016 on a related topic, although this year’s paper will delve a bit more into wartime imagery worked its way into Tolkien’s Middle-earth — think Frodo, Sam, and Gollum’s trek over the Dead Marshes in The Two Towers, where they encounter the dead from an ancient battle.

This year’s conference will take place on April 5th and 6th (my talk will be on the 6th, although I’m not sure what time, exactly) at UVM in Burlington. It’s open to the public — tickets are $25 ($15 if you’re from Vermont, and free for UVM students), and the last couple of times that I’ve gone, it’s been a delightful, enlightening afternoon. If you can’t make it, i’ll probably include my presentation in my newsletter.

Wordplay #7: Tolkien, Tolkien, Tolkien

This latest Wordplay letter was late: I had to contend with a busy work schedule last week (I write these in bits and pieces of the week, then send it once it’s all compiled), as well as a snowstorm in which my snowblower conked out.

No huge overarching theme this week, but I’ve been in a bit of a Tolkien mode the last couple of weeks, so I’m talking about that.

Give the issue a read here, and sign up here.

Some Kind of Fairy Tale: George MacDonald

With October's Horror duo over with, I decided that it was time to shift gears again in preparation for the really big fantasy event of the year: The Hobbit, and thus focus on some of the background on Fantasy literature, which I haven't really focused on thus far. Like Science Fiction, context for the development of Tolkien's works relies on an earlier look at what came before, and the notable author that I became interested in was George MacDonald, who really jump started the Fantasy genre by creating a number of modern fairy tales that inspired many fantasy authors that came before him. He's not a household name like Mary Shelley, Jules Verne or H.G. Wells, but he was no less influential in his works, which went on to inspire authors such as J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

Go read Some Kind of Fairy Tale over on Kirkus Reviews.

Sources Used:

George MacDonald, Michael R. Phillips: This biography of MacDonald is an interesting one, taking on both the man and his works, in both historical and narrative style. It's a good read, with quite a bit of information about the author and some of his major influences.

An Expression of Character: The Letters of George MacDonald: This volume contains the collected letters of MacDonald, which proved to be marginally useful for this piece: some of his books are mentioned, but nothing other than mentions of his books, rather than process (at least that I could find).

Survey of Modern Fantasy Literature, Vol 3, Frank Magill: I've been talking a lot about Science Fiction recently, and as I've begun to look more closely at Fantasy literature, needed to pick up the companion to the Survey that I've been using. Also edited by Frank Magill, it covers a wide range of fantasy novels and authors. The entry for Phantastes is a great overview of MacDonald and his career, and was incredibly useful for this piece.

George MacDonald, William Raeper: This biography is another good insight into MacDonald and his life and really helped to support the other pieces that I referenced.

Blarg

Yay for setting my alarm on time, but at the same time, also setting the clock an hour early. Not really sure how that happened. As a result, I'm to class an hour early. Does this mean that I get to skip a day?

Also, in this day in history, the Hobbit was published in 1939, with reluctance from J.R.R. Tolkien.

And, the trailer for Frank Miller's 300 was released on some random website today. 300 is a graphic novel that Miller (Who also wrote the brilliant Sin City and the Dark Knight Returns comics) about the 300 Spartan warriors at the battle of Thermopylae, where they held off an entire Persian army of thousands. I learned about the story in 3 Democracies in High School, and I got such chills hearing some of the lines in the trailer. "We shall fight in the shade."

See the trailer here.

Drinking With Legends

Okay, not really, but I did hit a very special pub today: The Eagle and Child. Doesn't ring any bells?

It's in Oxford, and it's where J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis went and met up, calling themselves the Inklings, when they were working on their major books. And I went there. I'm happy.

BECAUSE I WAS DRINKING IN THE VERY PLACE THAT TOLKIEN DID.

Tolkien's Signature

The main pub

More photographs here: http://norwich.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2001795&l=7c010&id=70000497

Album #2. More on the original album.